2025 Ford Bronco Sport Vs 2025 Subaru Forester | What's The Difference?

If you're looking for something economical that still can get you off the beaten path a little bit, well, you have a couple of choices. In particular, we're going to look at the Subaru Forester from 2025 and the 2025 Ford Bronco Sport. Both come standard with all-wheel drive, a fuel-efficient four-cylinder engine, and plenty of options in trim packages. The Bronco Sport offers the option of a more powerful turbocharged engine, but only on the most expensive trim. The Subaru Forester provides the option of a hybrid engine on most trims, for which the Bronco Sport has no answer. There's more to parse with these two baby brute utes, so let's delve a little bit deeper and see which works best for you. With a starting price of $32,590 including destination, the Bronco Sport costs about $1,200 more than the entry-level Forester. The Bronco's four trim levels range from faithful foul-weather friend to legitimate off-roader. Coming off a mild refresh for 2025, the Bronco Sport has a rugged outdoorsy look, demanded by the weekend warrior crowd. But the Bronco Sport does more than just look the part. It is a pro at tackling seriously gnarly unpaved territory. The standard all-wheel drive and five GOAT modes, which stands for Go Over Any Terrain, can tackle most moderate trails. However, going with a trim like the Badlands opens the door to two additional GOAT modes and the optional Sasquatch package, which adds Bilstein shocks, a Haas 3.0 suspension, raised ride height, and a dual-clutch torque vectoring rear drive unit. There are two engine options that power the Bronco Sport. The first is a 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine. When paired with an automatic transmission, that's an eight-speed, you can tow up to 2,000 pounds. If you are looking for a little bit more, then opt for, say, the Badlands trim, which gets a two-liter four-cylinder engine and can tow up to 2,200 pounds. Ford equips its baby Bronco with several attractive features. Standard equipment includes a customizable 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and advanced driver aids like automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, and lane keeping. The Bronco Sport's interior is functional, but it is long on plastics. It has a massive 13.2-inch infotainment touchscreen and cool options, like an interior bike rack that can stow two mountain bikes upright. It's pretty cool. Also on the menu is a killer Bang & Olufsen audio upgrade, a front-facing 180-degree camera, and Ford Trail Control featuring one-pedal driving when off-road. On the flip side, the Bronco Sport isn't big on rear-seat passenger space, a soft ride, or excellent fuel economy. If any of those are at the top of your list, well, then the Subaru Forester might be more of an option for you. With a starting price of $31,415, the Forester costs less than the Bronco Sport, yet it brings more standard equipment such as dual-zone automatic climate control and steering responsive LED headlights. There are six trims in the Forester lineup, with one not looking like the others, but we'll get into that later. Like the Bronco Sport, the Forester comes with all-wheel drive and an advanced traction control system called X-MODE, which is standard on everything but the base model. Unlike the Bronco Sport, the Forester uses a continuously variable automatic transmission, which is not as much fun to drive, but it does help you with fuel economy numbers. The Forester offers a choice between a gas-only engine or a fuel-efficient hybrid, which is available on all but the base and wilderness trim. Subaru's EyeSight Driver Assist suite includes forward collision warning and braking, adaptive cruise control, and lane centering. You'll also get automatic high beams, a blind spot monitor, and rear cross-traffic detection. When it comes to interior space, the Subaru absolutely whomps the Bronco Sport, giving you three more inches in rear passenger legroom and a whole other inch for your legs up front. The Forester provides more cargo space also with the rear seat folded, although the Bronco wins when the rear seat is up. In stark contrast to the Bronco Sport, the Forester possesses a refined interior loaded with soft-touch surfaces and luxurious appointments, especially on the Limited and Touring trims. Some of Forester's more notable features include a Harman Kardon audio system, a panoramic sunroof, heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, and an 11.6-inch tablet-style touchscreen that houses the audio, climate, and X-Mode controls. As for towing, the Forester tops out at 1,500 pounds on all but one of the trims. Which trim do you ask? Well, that's the Wilderness, and that's because it is a carryover from the 2024 model year. It has additional mechanical upgrades that allow it to tow up to 3,000 pounds, but it lacks a more modern interior, infotainment system, and improved rigidity of the newer model. The upshot is that you get a better all-wheel drive setup with the dual-function X-Mode, 9.2 inches of ground clearance, and all-terrain tires. So, which one is right for you? Well, that depends on what you're prioritizing. If you're looking for something a little more on the utilitarian and rugged side, then I would probably look to the Bronco Sport. However, if you are looking for something that is a better daily driver, that has more appointments, maybe not luxurious, but a little bit nicer on the interior, is a little bit more fuel efficient, and has better cargo space, well then I would take a look at the Subaru Forester.